MIG Capital’s Post

In the wake of recent belt-tightening and cautious betting in the biotech industry, it's evident that maintaining strong scientific foundations remains pivotal in navigating the current market climate. A notable observation emerges as several publicly traded biotech firms find their market valuations trailing behind their actual cash reserves, creating a divergence between real worth and market estimation. The investment terrain is undergoing a transformative shift, The capital in the biotech market is going into high-risk but adjacent ideas, with venture capitalist firms betting on single assets and single drugs. While both small and large biotech enterprises chart distinct paths, there's a unified trend emphasizing quality and the significance of robust clinical data. But one thing remains clear: a good story with solid science is the best way to weather the storm. Wishing all the success to the teams at Westlake Village BioPartners®, Atlas Venture, Flagship Pioneering, EcoR1 Capital, LLC, Venrock, Longitude Capital, and Sofinnova Partners. #biotechnology #science #biotechfunding #investment #venturecapital #publicmarket #seriesa #seriesb #seriesc #venturefund

We’re thrilled to announce that we've secured $100 million for our Series C fund, co-led by Khosla Ventures, 5AM Ventures, Gilde Healthcare, and joined by new investor Seventure Partners and existing investor SoftBank Investment Advisers, General Catalyst, HBM Healthcare Investments, Blue Water Life Sciences, Innovation Endeavors, Waycross Partners, and others. These funds enable us to address increasing demand from healthcare providers to expand access to the Karius Test beyond the hospital setting and support research into the broader health implications of Karius’ microbial cell-free DNA technology beyond infectious diseases. Additionally, we're pleased to welcome Alexander A. Morgan, MD PhD from Khosla Ventures, Joep Muijrers from Gilde Healthcare, and Andrew Booth, Venture Advisor at 5AM Ventures and CFO of AbCellera, to our board of directors. Karius' financing coincides with positive results from the PICKUP trial, which enrolled 257 hospitalized adults with pneumonia and hematologic malignancies across 10 leading medical centers. The Karius Test, when added to standard care, detected 40% more infections, potentially changing medical management for 81% of cases, highlighting its diagnostic value in patients with blood cancers or bone marrow transplants and its potential to transform patient care. Thanks to both our new investors as well as existing long-term investors who have participated in the round because of their continued belief in the change Karius can accomplish. https://hubs.li/Q02vTRn20 #funding #healthcare #biotech #KariusTest #AI #AMR #infectiousdisease

Liquid biopsy testing began as a groundbreaking advancement that revolutionized cancer care and it's now unlocking the power of precision medicine for other life-threatening diseases. Liquid biopsy is a non-invasive diagnostic technique that commonly uses a blood sample to assess biomarkers, offering insights into early disease detection and helping to guide therapeutic decisions through a personalized medicine approach. Liquid biopsy tests are virtually pain-free for patients (versus traditional tissue biopsies) and provide dynamic insights into disease progression by detecting specific genetic changes associated with cancer. Industry leaders like Guardant Health, Foundation Medicine, and more have made groundbreaking contributions to solid tumor testing (cancer occurring in bones, organs, muscles) through innovations in liquid biopsy and FDA-approved companion diagnostics. Liquid biopsy isn’t just limited to cancer, and the applications for its use have expanded significantly as it is now making waves in the world of infectious disease testing. The Karius Test uses next-generation sequencing (NGS) to identify pathogens (i.e., viruses, bacteria, fungi, parasites) directly all from a single blood sample. It’s a game-changer for diagnosing infections in immunocompromised patients, especially in cases where traditional methods may fail. Ultimately, helping to improve the diagnosis and treatment of these potentially life-threatening infections. Congrats to Karius on securing $100M in Series C funding! It is great to see the backing of an innovative company that is making significant advancements in the world of healthcare. #liquidbiopsy #precisionmedicine #moleculardiagnostics #biotechrecruiter

Karius’s journey started ten years ago at Stanford, SoftBank has been along for the last four, and today we’re proud to open its next chapter alongside both long-standing and new supporters. The Karius test brings the power of NGS to infectious disease, where it solves not one diagnostic problem but >1,000 at once, mining microbial DNA with ML to identify pathogens and drug-resistance markers. This helps reduce the guesswork of treating infections in the most vulnerable patients, including one half of cancer deaths caused by infection rather than the cancer. This technology has already transformed the care of 10,000s of patients, but we’re just getting started. It’s been a privilege to observe Karius’s remarkable innovation engine that’s set to impact many more diverse clinical settings, and we are confident this financing is the rocket fuel to get there. Here’s to Karius’s next ten years. Vali Barsan, Sumer Juneja

Pivotal Life Sciences (the “Firm”), a global #investment firm dedicated to investing in companies involved in #healthcare innovation seeking to improve patient outcomes, announced today the final close of Pivotal bioVenture Partners Fund II (“Fund II”), with $389 million in capital commitments. Fund II will continue Pivotal bioVenture Partners’ core strategy of investing in companies based in #NorthAmerica and #Europe developing innovative and impactful therapeutics. Additionally, the establishment of Fund II will enable Pivotal to continue to attract talented leaders to guide and grow these companies in key healthcare and therapeutic areas. “We believe in the power of outstanding teams and excellent execution. The ongoing dislocation in the markets is creating opportunities to match the best entrepreneurs and drug developers with the most promising therapeutic innovation, a strategy that we are well positioned to execute,” said Rob Hopfner, Managing General Partner, Pivotal Life Sciences. “We see great opportunities to create value by leveraging the reach of our team’s unique and broad talent network, together with a proven ability to pick winners through different market cycles.” The Pivotal bioVenture Partners team will leverage the full capabilities of Pivotal Life Sciences’ global investment group, which invests through private, public, and other creative financing vehicles in the general life sciences field. Pivotal bioVenture Partners will build upon the Firm’s commitment to and relationships with groundbreaking academic scientists, including those supported by their philanthropic academic grant program directly funding academic investigators research. Established in 2017, Pivotal bioVenture Partners is a venture capital partnership dedicated to investing in innovative companies developing therapeutics to address major unmet medical needs and improving patient lives. The name “Pivotal” reflects both the group’s focus on medicines that have the potential to transform patient lives, as well as their determination to be a valued partner for their portfolio companies. Peter Bisgaard Tony Ho Mischa Travers Shiva Amiri Glenn Batchelder Emerald Bloom Nathan Berkowitz Chiara Biondi Rama Chandrasekaran Joe Charalel Barbara Elashoff Shengbo (Felix) Fu Stewart Holloway Patrick Jongeneel Jeni Lee Benjamin Li David Malek Brian Mills, PhD Ashley Power Margie Tostado #fund

Much of the reporting and perspectives I’ve seen from #jpm2024 have pointed toward optimism, especially in 2025. After a tough stretch for #biotech and #lifescience companies raising funds, I wonder if we are beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel. Fingers crossed!🤞 Since I missed JPM, I really enjoyed reading this recap from Aimee Raleigh (Principal, Atlas Venture). As expected, it does seem like a lot of positive sentiment has risen from 2023’s hottest therapeutic areas, namely obesity, immunology, oncology (esp. advanced modalities, like #ADC technologies), and neurology. As Raleigh writes, many large pharma companies are scooping up best-in-class biologics candidates in these areas. That said, we still need to maintain a level head. For example, though the XBI biotech index did offer returns during JPM week, it has since lost those gains. In the short term, it seems like there will still be some investor reluctance, given this volatility, crowding in key areas, and the fact that it’s a US election year. Still, it’s encouraging to see some confidence building in the sector! Check out Raleigh's piece for a more in-depth look and some great insights on the state of life science investment in 2024. https://lnkd.in/e4nuc6Tm

🌟 Breaking News: Cytonics is now featured on StartEngine's front page! 🌟 🚀 Thanks to a surge of support, we’ve become one of their fastest-growing campaigns, securing over $1M in committed capital from over 300 visionary investors! A staggering 60% of this investment has flowed from our current cap table - a strong vote of confidence from our loyal shareholders ❤️ who have witnessed us consistently achieve our drug development milestones . 💡 Our groundbreaking journey continues as we approach the first-in-human Phase 1 study of CYT-108 in Q1 2024. 🧬 If approved by the FDA, CYT-108 will likely be the first and only disease-modifying treatment for OA - a beacon of hope for osteoarthritis sufferers everywhere. 🔔 Attention to all future-forward thinkers: If you've ever dreamed of investing in early-stage biotech like a Venture Capitalist 💰, now's your chance! Don't miss out on this golden opportunity to get involved right before a significant milestone - one that could redefine the landscape of arthritis treatment and patient care. 🔗 Ready to make a difference? Join us at invest.cytonics.com and be a part of something extraordinary! #biotechnology #investing #crowdfunding #venturecapital

#fundingalert 💼Company: AreteiaTx 💰Funding: $75Million  ⚡Round: Series A  👥Investors: Marshall Wace, Viking Global Investors, Bain Capital Life Sciences Fund LP, GV (Google Ventures), ARCH Venture Partners, Saturn Partners, Population Health Partners. Areteia Therapeutics is a clinical stage #biotechnology business led by CEO and President Jorge Bartolome. The money will be used by the business to assist the extension of the ongoing Phase III dexpramipexole development program for eosinophilic asthma. Areteia Therapeutics is a new biotechnology business whose goal is to develop the first possible oral #treatment for #eosinophilic asthma, enabling patients to take back control of their life and better manage their illness. Read more - https://lnkd.in/gAGpbRX2 To share your startup story write us on - [email protected] #areteiatx #funding #startup

What do biotech investors look for when doing diligence on a therapeutics company? We talk to a lot of biotech founders and teams through our work at Kaleidoscope.bio, and this question comes up often. It’s not always clear what milestones matter for successfully raising a round, and different investors have different approaches to thinking about opportunities versus risks. To help bring a bit of visibility to this process, we spoke to four active investors in the therapeutics space and compiled their insights (broken down by stage and platform vs asset): https://lnkd.in/eFrpnHHM Adam Goulburn from Dimension Pablo Lubroth from Hummingbird Ventures Patrick Malone, MD PhD from KdT Ventures Amee Kapadia from Cantos Navigating fundraising - especially in today’s markets - is challenging. But continued innovation in biotech means new cures and new technologies that benefit human and planet health. Hopefully this piece can serve as a quick reference guide for biotech teams building in the space. The show must go on!

Every projection I've seen over the past few weeks predicts at least a 30% CAGR for the #advancedtherapies industry over the next decade. For all those passionate about #investing in the non-therapeutic business models around the #cellandgene #advancedtherapy sector, you will want to meet with my colleague Emmanuel Grillot to discuss how you might collaborate with, invest in, co-invest with, and/or otherwise leverage what is being built at Altius bioventures.